RARE and EXTINCT at Kew

Nice day out to Kew for the first time since our disasterous trip last year. A dull day to look around the gardens and for once in a blue moon a Facebook ad that wasn't auto blocked was relevant to my needs. An exhibition on plants that are endangered or now extinct in the wild from a variety of sources. Its on till the 17th of November in the small octagon bits between the main Temperate house, if you're interested. With a few overspill bits in the main Temperate house. We went on the Friday and like I said it was a dull day. As I'm not a member I had to pay £15.50 to get in (the cheapest I've had for ages) and had a look round. First impressions. Not mentioned really but there is quite a healthy Jackdaw population here that I've never seen elsewhere in London and the most Jays I've seen in one place too. The main exhibition is free to enter (it takes up the whole temperate house) and shows a variety of plants that are either extinct in the wild or critically endangered. This includes various island flora such as ST. Helena and a few taxa from South Africa (Conohytum and a Whorled Heath) along with the Lady's Slipper Orchid which is nearly extinct here in the UK. I'm not sure about there being 200 species of Conophytum but thanks to the Chinese they are being collected to extinction, which is not good.

St Helena Redwood.

Something doubly rare. Aloe Albiflora a white flowered Aloe.